


Hold My Hand

by Glinda



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Alien Cultural Differences, Awkwardness, Food Issues, Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-17
Updated: 2016-01-17
Packaged: 2018-05-14 13:22:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,124
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5745406
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Glinda/pseuds/Glinda
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rey doesn't need someone to hold her hand, Finn would quite like someone to hold his hand and Poe's got two free hands whenever they like.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hold My Hand

**Author's Note:**

  * For [frith_in_thorns](https://archiveofourown.org/users/frith_in_thorns/gifts).



> From the prompt of _Hold My Hand_ by Hootie and the Blowfish. 
> 
>  
> 
> For frith who I failed utterly to write anything for during fandom_stocking and wrote me a lovely Star Wars story which made me want to write all the stories about Rey and Finn struggling with their new life.

Rey lingered in the canteen doorway. She couldn’t quite get used to eating around other people. She would never have dreamed of eating in front of other people on Jakku. You didn’t admit how much food you had to anyone. She was used to trading and bargaining for every last portion but here, she came down to the canteen and they fed her. No credits exchanged, it was part of her pay for being part of the resistance, like her bunk three floors above them. People tried to sit across from her and talk to her when she was eating, it was rude and she hated it, but the one time she’d tried to take her food away with her was the only time she’d been told off since she’d got back to D’Qar. Since then she tried to time her visits to when the canteen would be quietest but it still required some refining. Yesterday the canteen had been half-empty at this time but today it was bustling. 

“Alright there?” Asked a familiar voice beside her. 

Poe was standing in the corridor regarding her curiously, which meant he’d been standing there a while wondering what had her lingering awkwardly in the doorway. Rey was mortified and furious at herself for being both obvious and oblivious which doubtless made her tone harsher than intended. 

“I’m fine. Just looking for an empty table, managing just fine without someone to hold my hand.”

“Glad someone else hates canteens as much as I do,” observed another familiar voice, “the canteen in…my last place…was a political minefield. I could definitely use someone to hold my hand and guide me through the politics of this one.”

Poe’s expression when she looked over at him was amused but without a trace of mockery at Finn’s expense. 

“No politics, well not much, just sit with your friends or team-mates. Some people do try to make capital out of who sits with who, but I don’t sit with people who do that. But I get that it might be daunting if you didn’t grown up with it, or are used to something a bit too similar. “ Poe shrugs easily. 

Rey flinched a little inside; she really had to stop expecting these people to have ulterior motives. Poe was friends with Finn and so was she; he’d just seen her standing by herself and presumed she was shy. He’d been trying to be nice but his mode of being nice would only make things worse. He’d want to sit with them, and expect to talk to them if he did. It would be awful and awkward for all three of them but maybe if she could explain she could avoid that impacting on Finn as much as possible. 

“On Jakku,” she offered stiffly, “it was the height of bad manners to eat in front of any one else, anyone you didn’t know well enough to be sharing portions with anyway. It was like taunting them, saying I have food and you don’t. Rude. Obnoxious. I understand that that’s not how it works here but it’s still…hard.”

Rey looked up defiantly expecting mockery, but Poe just nodded frowning slightly in thought. 

“Okay, so I’ve seen you share food with Finn so he’s fine, can you eat in front of me?”

She shook her head and opened her mouth to apologise but Poe carried on.

“Alright, I can work with that. You two, get us food, I’ll get us a table.”

He darted off into the crowd, fending off greetings and invitations to join them from numerous groups of pilots and mechanics. Rey watched him go, confusion growing, until Finn nudged her. He wiggled his fingers at her, “let’s do this.”

Rolling her eyes, Rey took his hand and led him through the crowd. Finn grabbed them trays and began populating them with dinner for the three of them. Turning on the charm to get the staff to admit to Poe’s preferences when his own knowledge failed. Between the two of them they carried the food over to the table where Poe had staked his claim deflecting anyone who tried to join him with politely and firmly vague comments about important cartography business. The table was triangular and tucked in a corner; Rey ducked behind Poe to take advantage of the corner. Finn took up one side of the table, squaring his shoulders so that he acted like a flesh and blood barrier against the rest of the room. Poe took the last side but picked up his bowl and promptly rotated on his stool to simultaneously block her from the room and not look at her while she ate. Starting a quiet but enthusiastic discussion with Finn about the latest theories around R2-D2s map. Occasionally asking him to pass things from the tray. 

During a lull in their conversation, she looked up and caught Finn’s eye, his expression full of affection and admiration that clearly said ‘isn’t my new friend awesome?’ Rey rolled her eyes at him but smiled as well to let him know she appreciated both their efforts. Finn ducked his head, blushed and carefully flipped a piece of a particular kind of fruit from his dessert bowl into Poe’s before handing it over. Poe glanced into the bowl and grinned back at the gesture. ‘I taught him that’ she thought a little proud and a little sad, ‘to share food as an act of trust and friendship, he didn’t have real friends before, neither of us did’. She stared at the same fruit in her own bowl. She didn’t really like it, just ate it because she couldn’t bring herself to waste food. Carefully she scooped it out of her dessert turning the spoon so she could poke Poe gently with the handle and make her own offering. If anything Poe smiled wider at her offering, before glancing over at Finn who spoke round his own mouthful of food. 

“She likes the blue ones best.”

She did indeed like the blue ones best, she just wasn’t aware that she’d shown any preference for them anywhere but inside her own head. And now she had two extra in her bowl courtesy of Poe. Thank you seemed…insufficient somehow, so instead, as he nodded and began to turn away again she reached out to catch his sleeve and tug him back again. She got the full wattage of his smile, along with a shy bob of his head and he stayed where he was. Finn restarted the conversation about maps and even if Rey couldn’t bring herself to join in yet, this was the first meal she’d eaten in the canteen and enjoyed. 

That felt like victory enough for today.


End file.
